Jane and the Wandering Eye: Being the Third Jane Austen Mystery - Hardcover

Barron, Stephanie

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0553102044 ISBN 13: 9780553102048

Publisher: Bantam, 1998

Synopsis

Jane Austen's potential as a brilliant sleuth was delightfully revealed in Jane and the Unpleasantness at Scargrave Manor and deliciously underscored in Jane and the Man of the Cloth.  Now, in Stephanie Barron's third superb Jane Austen Mystery, the beloved author embarks on her most perplexing case...as misplaced passions, festering malice, and the desire for revenge serve to conceal the true motives for murder.

As Christmas of l804 approaches, Jane Austen finds herself "insupportably bored with Bath, and the littlenesses of a town," despite the seasonal gaiety, the elegant Assemblies, and the appearance of a celebrated pair of actors at the Theatre Royal.  It is with something like relief, then, that she accepts a peculiar commission from her Gentleman Rogue, Lord Harold Trowbridge--to shadow his niece, Lady Desdemona, who has fled to Bath to avoid the attentions of the arrogant and unsavoury Earl of Swithin.

But at a masquerade thronged with the fashionable and the notorious, Jane's idle diversion suddenly turns deadly.  Even as actor Hugh Conyngham transfixes the guests with his declamation of Macbeth's murderous soliloquy, his theatre manager is discovered stabbed to death in an anteroom.  Weeping on his breast is Hugh's sister, the spirited tragedienne Maria Conyngham.

And standing by the body, knife in hand, is Desdemona's brother, Simon, Lord Kinsfell.  In vain does Simon protest his innocence: he is arrested and charged with murder.

Jane, however, knows that there is more to this fatal drama than meets the eye.  And what is one to surmise from the stormy portrait of an eye left lying on the corpse?  As Yuletide revels progress, Jane's delicate inquiries expose a bewildering array of suspects amid an endlessly shifting pattern of flirtations, amours, and sinister entanglements.  And as Jane's fascination with mystery and her fondness for the dramatic arts lead her deeper into the investigation, it becomes clear that she will not uncover the truth without some play-acting of her own.

Yet Jane's bravura performance could do more than unmask a killer...it could lead to the ruin of her reputation, or even the loss of her life.

Fiendishly clever and breathlessly diverting, Jane and the Wandering Eye weaves manners, mayhem, and murder into a dazzling
spectacle of intrigue and suspense.

About this title

Review

It's evident from the opening lines of Jane and the Wandering Eye that author Stephanie Barron knows both her Regency-period England and her Jane Austen. In this novel, the famous author takes center stage and finds herself embroiled in nefarious doings--in this case, the murder of a theater manager. As in the series' other books, Jane herself tells the story through a series of journal entries, and it is in her heroine's voice that Barron's genius comes to light: the same sharp eye for detail and ironic understanding of human character that informed Miss Austen's novels are hard at work in this fictional account of her sideline occupation as a sleuth. Though the mystery at the heart of Jane and the Wandering Eye is hardly a nail-biter, the wonderful mix of fictional and historical characters--all rendered up with Austenian wit--that inhabit this murderous comedy of manners are what will keep readers going to the very last page--and coming back for more.

From the Publisher

"A diverting mystery of manners, the third entry in a genteelly jolly series."
--The Book Report

The highest praise for Stephanie Barron's previous Jane Austen Mysteries:

"Ms. Barron's skillful rendering of Austen's style...reveals it to be an ideal vehicle for the classic cozy murder mystery. Who knew?"
--The New York Times Book Review

"There's plenty to enjoy in this crime-solving side of Jane....[She] is as worthy a detective as Columbo."
--USA Today

"Historical fiction at its best."
--Library Journal

"Jane is unmistakably here with us through the work of Stephanie Barron--sleuthing, entertaining, and making us want to devour the next Austen adventure as soon as possible."
--Diane Mott Davidson

"Splendid fun!"
--Star-Tribune, Minneapolis

"Happily succeeds on all levels: a robust tale of manners and mayhem that faithfully reproduces the Austen style--and engrosses to the finish."
--Kirkus Reviews

About this edition

• Publisher: Bantam
• Publication date: 1998
• ISBN 10: 0553102044
• ISBN 13: 9780553102048
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 272